DRIVING thousands of miles in a rally across some of the world's harshest terrain would be tough enough in a state-of-the-art 4x4, but doing so in a 20-year-old banger is really tempting fate.

However, four Birmingham students will be doing just that as they prepare for the fundraising trip of a lifetime that will take them through the wilds of Mongolia.

Andrew Gray, Tom Walker, Hector Falconer and Rachel Smith, who all live in Selly Oak, are taking part in the Mongol Rally.

The Mongol Rally 2008 starts on July 19 in London, and the rally finishes in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar around three weeks later having travelled up to 10,000 miles through 20 countries.

Rachel said: "There are two rules we have to stick to in participating in the Mongol Rally.

"The first one is that the vehicle we drive must have an engine under 1 litre, and the second is that we have to raise £1,000 for Mongolia Mercy Corps, which supports rural communities to meet their economic and social needs, helping people to become more self-sufficient, diversified in their production, and better linked to local, regional and national markets."

As a result, Rachel and Tom will be making the journey in a 1991 Nissan Micra while Andrew and Hector will be doing so in a 1988 Fiat Panda.